www.yourfamily.co.za |
Showing You Quality Articles…ShowMe™ and Your Family bring you some of this magazine’s top notch content right here on our site. Your Family is the one magazine today’s modern mother can’t do without:
Passionate about creative living See below for more info on the last issue and find out how to subscribe. |
Great Ideas for Homemade Gifts
Here are 10 gorgeous, budget-friendly gift ideas for the whole family.
1. Book Of Love
Help the children create a ‘cheque book’ of special favours to be redeemed at any time. Use the computer, or let them design the vouchers by hand, and glue or staple the pages together.
2. Best Blends
Tell a friend or relative how much they mean to you by designing, printing and sticking your own label onto a bottle of wine. Source quotes and poems from books or the Internet, or you could even put a special memory into words: ‘Remember the time when…’ Lastly, don’t forget to share a glass of the wine with the loved one!
3. Mixing Magic
Soften a bar of chocolate over boiling water, and dip plastic spoons (don’t include the handle) into the melted chocolate. Place them on a tray covered with greaseproof paper to harden. When set, wrap the spoons up beautifully to give as a gift – to be stirred into some warmed liqueur or added to a cup of coffee…
4. For Those Who Have Everything
The non-materialistic or those who buy what they want before anyone else can, are a challenging bunch. The key here is to choose something that shows you care and have thought about what their interests are.
A beautifully scented growing plant will always please a keen gardener, and what craft enthusiast wouldn’t appreciate some pretty handmade paper rolled into tubes and secured with matching ribbon?
5. Petal Power
These clay roses make pretty tea light holders. Using any air-drying clay, such as DAS, divide the clay up into even-sized balls, depending on how large you want each petal to be. We made ours about the size of a medium-sized marble. Using your fingers, flatten each ball into a disk, and continue until you have enough petals. Once you have prepared your petals, stack them in circular formation to create your rose.
Our flowers have 5 petals on the lower half, and 4 above. Press down in the centre to hold them together, and use a tea light to mould the centre shape. Gently shape your petals into an organic silhouette. Once the clay has dried and hardened, spray with paint in a subtle colour.
6. Dress-Up Fun
Rummage through your wardrobe for any old and fun garments that are way past their ‘wear-by’ date – an old sunhat, those peculiarly-shaped glasses, that feather boa… Put them all in a box or basket and give as a gift to the kids as a dress-up set that promises hours of entertainment!
7. For Friends Who Live Overseas
Postage and courier rates make long-distance gifting prohibitively expensive. But chances are you’re both in the same boat. Gifts between you should emphasise your enduring affection, even though you’re far apart.
Make sure you’re up to date with current interests and use those as a starting point. Or send a DVD of a movie you both enjoyed from childhood. Still stuck? Use the Internet to find a gift supplier in their area who can deliver a hamper or gift voucher from a store close to home. Bright idea: Make a collage of photos of events or parties you have attended together. Your local printer can scan them in for you and give you the colour photo on a disk. Send your gift over the Internet and they can print and frame it as a memento.
8. For a Favourite Great Aunt
Older relatives may be jaded from years of bath salts and candied ginger, so put on your thinking cap! Think about their interests and get a relevant magazine delivered to their door. Or how about a treat: movie tickets will give them a memorable night out, or a lottery ticket, which could be the winning one. What about a membership to a garden club in their area? Or a Wild Card, gaining them discounted entrance to our national parks and cash back with selected partners. Visit www.wildcard.co.za
9. Sweets For My Sweet
Look around for a selection of sweets or chocolates, some tissue paper, ribbon and a box that complement each other in colour. Line the box with the tissue paper, use card to create dividers and fill the box with the variety of sweets. Decorate the lid with a combination of tissue paper and ribbon, and give your compilation to your favourite sweet-toothed friend, relative or teacher!
10. For Other People’s Children
Ask their parents what they like, or ask children you know who are of a similar age, if you need to know what the latest craze is. Babies get inundated with soft toys, so how about a bib or vest with a cute design. For older children, T-shirts with quirky messages will be a hit. As a rule, most young girls love jewellery and fashion accessories. For boys, the latest gadget is sure to please! Bright idea: Pool games and inflatables don’t cost the earth and will be well used during our long summers. Or opt for movie vouchers they can use to treat their friends during the holidays.
Feature: Ilana Price, Photos by Roelene Prinsloo and Elmarie Knapton, Taken from the November 2009 edition of Your Family
www.yourfamily.co.za |
Subscribe to Your Family MagazineFind all the modern mother’s interests in one place. Why not subscribe to this magazine? Give a Gift SubscriptionLooking for a gift for a busy mother? Let her receive this wonderful magazine from you every month! Latest Issue of Your FamilySee what’s in the latest exciting issue of Your Family |